Use bind mounts | Docker Docs https://docs.docker.

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Guides / Get started / Getting started guide / Part 6: Use bind mounts

In part 5, you used a volume mount to persist the data in your database. A volume mount is
a great choice when you need somewhere persistent to store your application data.

A bind mount is another type of mount, which lets you share a directory from the host's
�lesystem into the container. When working on an application, you can use a bind mount to
mount source code into the container. The container sees the changes you make to the
code immediately, as soon as you save a �le. This means that you can run processes in the
container that watch for �lesystem changes and respond to them.

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In this chapter, you'll see how you can use bind mounts and a tool called nodemon to
watch for �le changes, and then restart the application automatically. There are equivalent
tools in most other languages and frameworks.

Quick volume type comparisons

The following table outlines the main di�erences between volume mounts and bind mounts.

Host Docker chooses You decide

location

Mount type=volume,src=my-volume,target=/usr/local/data type=bind,src=/path/to/data,target=

example
(using
--mount

Populates Yes No
new

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volume
with
container
contents

Supports Yes No
Volume
Drivers

Trying out bind mounts

Before looking at how you can use bind mounts for developing your application, you can run
a quick experiment to get a practical understanding of how bind mounts work.

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If you use Windows and want to use Git Bash to run Docker commands, see Working
with Git Bash for syntax di�erences.

1. Verify that your getting-started-app directory is in a directory de�ned in Docker

Desktop's �le sharing setting. This setting de�nes which parts of your �lesystem you
can share with containers. For details about accessing the setting, see the topic for
Mac, Windows, or Linux.

2. Open a terminal and change directory to the getting-started-app directory.

3. Run the following command to start bash in an ubuntu container with a bind mount.

Mac / Linux Windows (PowerShell) Windows (Command Prompt)

$ docker run -it --mount type=bind,src="$(pwd)",target=/src ubuntu bash

The --mount option tells Docker to create a bind mount, where src is the current
working directory on your host machine ( getting-started-app ), and target is

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where that directory should appear inside the container ( /src ).

4. After running the command, Docker starts an interactive bash session in the root
directory of the container's �lesystem.

root@ac1237fad8db:/# pwd
/
root@ac1237fad8db:/# ls
bin dev home media opt root sbin srv tmp var
boot etc lib mnt proc run src sys usr

5. Change directory to the src directory.

This is the directory that you mounted when starting the container. Listing the contents
of this directory displays the same �les as in the getting-started-app directory on
your host machine.

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root@ac1237fad8db:/# cd src
root@ac1237fad8db:/src# ls
Dockerfile node_modules package.json spec src yarn.lock

6. Create a new �le named myfile.txt .

root@ac1237fad8db:/src# touch myfile.txt

root@ac1237fad8db:/src# ls
Dockerfile myfile.txt node_modules package.json spec src yarn.lock

7. Open the getting-started-app directory on the host and observe that the
myfile.txt �le is in the directory.

├── getting-started-app/
│ ├── Dockerfile
│ ├── myfile.txt
│ ├── node_modules/
│ ├── package.json
│ ├── spec/
│ ├── src/

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│ └── yarn.lock

8. From the host, delete the myfile.txt �le.

9. In the container, list the contents of the app directory once more. Observe that the �le
is now gone.

root@ac1237fad8db:/src# ls
Dockerfile node_modules package.json spec src yarn.lock

10. Stop the interactive container session with Ctrl + D .

That's all for a brief introduction to bind mounts. This procedure demonstrated how �les are
shared between the host and the container, and how changes are immediately re�ected on
both sides. Now you can use bind mounts to develop software.

Development containers

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Using bind mounts is common for local development setups. The advantage is that the
development machine doesn’t need to have all of the build tools and environments installed.
With a single docker run command, Docker pulls dependencies and tools.

Run your app in a development container

The following steps describe how to run a development container with a bind mount that
does the following:

• Mount your source code into the container

• Install all dependencies

• Start nodemon to watch for �lesystem changes

You can use the CLI or Docker Desktop to run your container with a bind mount.

CLI (Mac / Linux) CLI (Windows) Docker Desktop

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1. Make sure you don't have any getting-started containers currently running.

2. Run the following command from the getting-started-app directory.

$ docker run -dp 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 \

-w /app --mount type=bind,src="$(pwd)",target=/app \
node:18-alpine \
sh -c "yarn install && yarn run dev"

The following is a breakdown of the command:

• -dp 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 - same as before. Run in detached (background)

mode and create a port mapping

• -w /app - sets the "working directory" or the current directory that the command

will run from

• --mount type=bind,src="$(pwd)",target=/app - bind mount the current

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directory from the host into the /app directory in the container

• node:18-alpine - the image to use. Note that this is the base image for your app

from the Docker�le

• sh -c "yarn install && yarn run dev" - the command. You're starting a shell

using sh (alpine doesn't have bash ) and running yarn install to install
packages and then running yarn run dev to start the development server. If you
look in the package.json , you'll see that the dev script starts nodemon .

3. You can watch the logs using docker logs <container-id> . You'll know you're ready
to go when you see this:

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$ docker logs -f <container-id>

nodemon -L src/index.js
[nodemon] 2.0.20
[nodemon] to restart at any time, enter `rs`
[nodemon] watching path(s): *.*
[nodemon] watching extensions: js,mjs,json
[nodemon] starting `node src/index.js`
Using sqlite database at /etc/todos/todo.db
Listening on port 3000

When you're done watching the logs, exit out by hitting Ctrl + C .

Develop your app with the development container

Update your app on your host machine and see the changes re�ected in the container.

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1. In the src/static/js/app.js �le, on line 109, change the "Add Item" button to simply
say "Add":

- {submitting ? 'Adding...' : 'Add Item'}

+ {submitting ? 'Adding...' : 'Add'}

Save the �le.

2. Refresh the page in your web browser, and you should see the change re�ected almost
immediately because of the bind mount. Nodemon detects the change and restarts the
server. It might take a few seconds for the Node server to restart. If you get an error, try
refreshing after a few seconds.

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3. Feel free to make any other changes you'd like to make. Each time you make a change
and save a �le, the change is re�ected in the container because of the bind mount.
When Nodemon detects a change, it restarts the app inside the container automatically.
When you're done, stop the container and build your new image using:

$ docker build -t getting-started .

Summary
At this point, you can persist your database and see changes in your app as you develop
without rebuilding the image.

In addition to volume mounts and bind mounts, Docker also supports other mount types and
storage drivers for handling more complex and specialized use cases.

Related information:

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docker CLI reference

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